Pressure on quotas killed the debate on migration in the Czech Republic before it started, says Czech Member of the European Parliament Petr Ježek (ANO). "Our countries were closed towards the world outside for forty years. There were attempts at an in-depth discussion of the issue of migration in the country at the beginning of the migration crisis. But the Commission handled the situation under time pressure and underrated the issue..." Read more (in Czech).

Tomáš Zdechovský (MEP, KDU-ČSL) explains in his commentary for Euractiv.cz that beind the influx of applicants for asylum there are irresponsibly and inadequately generous social allowances. "It is not fault of the new EU members states that they are less attractive for applicants for asylum than Germany or Sweden "

Another Czech MEP Luděk Niedermayer (TOP 09) argues in his Facebook post that if member states will pursue "national solutions", one of the EU's most valuable policies - the Schengen system - will erode. This would affect the Intermal Market and the free movement of goods, and also possibly cohesion, agricultural policies. Politicians should understand (and explain to people) that the current migration crisis is a European crisis and a European solution is necessary.

View also an interview on DVTV with Šimon Pánek (People in Need) and MEP Jan Zahradil (ODS).

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CzechCompete is a platform for analyzing what economic policies will make the Czech Republic a top ten EU economy based on GDP per capita (PPS). It features data, policy proposals, interviews and opinions contributed by policymakers from the public sector, associations, businesses and academia. CzechCompete is managed by the American Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic.